Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Small Biz Security ("we," "our," or "us") operates lockyourbiz.com, a free educational website providing cybersecurity guides, articles, and interactive tools for small business owners. We are committed to transparency about how we handle your information.

If you have questions about this policy, please contact us.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Voluntarily Provide

We do not require accounts, logins, or personal information to access any content or tool on this site. The only personal data we receive is what you choose to give us — for example, if you use our contact form, we collect your name and email address solely to respond to your message. That information is never shared, sold, or used for marketing.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, our servers and analytics tools automatically log standard technical data:

• IP address (anonymized where possible)
• Browser type and version
• Pages visited and time spent on each page
• Referring website (how you found us)
• Device type (desktop, tablet, mobile) and operating system
• Approximate geographic region (country/city level — we do not track precise location)

This data is aggregated and does not personally identify you. We use it to understand which articles and tools visitors find most useful, so we can create more of what helps you.

2.3 Our Interactive Tools

Our security assessment, password checker, phishing quiz, and tool comparison all run entirely in your browser using client-side JavaScript. Nothing you type into these tools is ever transmitted to our servers. Your assessment answers, passwords you test, and quiz responses never leave your device. You can verify this by opening your browser's developer tools (F12 → Network tab) while using any tool — you will see zero data sent to us.

3. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device by websites you visit. We use cookies for three purposes:

3.1 Managing Your Cookie Preferences

When you first visit our site, a cookie consent banner appears at the bottom of the page. You can:

• Accept All — enable both analytics and advertising cookies
• Reject All — only essential cookies; no analytics or advertising
• Customize — choose which categories to allow, with individual toggles for analytics and advertising

Your choice is saved in your browser for 12 months. You can change it at any time by clearing your browser's localStorage for our domain, which will cause the consent banner to reappear on your next visit.

You can also control cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers let you block all cookies, delete existing cookies, or alert you when cookies are set. Note that blocking essential cookies may affect how our site functions.

3.2 Google AdSense & Advertising Cookies

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google and its advertising partners use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website and other websites on the internet. This is called interest-based advertising.

Specifically, when advertising cookies are enabled:

• Google acts as a third-party vendor and uses cookies (such as the DART cookie) to serve ads on our site.
• Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads based on your visit to our site and other sites.
• You may opt out of the DART cookie by visiting Google's Advertising Privacy & Terms page.
• You may also opt out of interest-based advertising from many third-party ad networks at aboutads.info (US) or youronlinechoices.eu (EU).

Our ad serving is consent-based: no advertising cookies are placed until you explicitly accept them through our cookie banner. If you reject or do not interact with the banner, only essential cookies are used and you will not receive personalized ads.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the limited information we collect to:

• Operate, maintain, and improve our website, articles, and tools
• Understand which content and tools are most useful to our visitors
• Respond to your inquiries submitted through our contact form
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, or security incidents
• Comply with applicable laws and regulations

We do not use your information for automated decision-making or profiling.

5. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to anyone. We may share anonymized, aggregated data with:

• Service providers who help us operate our website — specifically Google (analytics and advertising) and Cloudflare (hosting and DNS).
• Legal authorities if required by law, court order, or to protect our legal rights.
• Successor entity in the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets (you will be notified).

6. Your Rights Under GDPR (EU/EEA Visitors)

If you are located in the European Union or European Economic Area, you have the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Right to Access — request a copy of any personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification — correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten") — request deletion of your personal data.
• Right to Restrict Processing — limit how we use your data.
• Right to Data Portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to Object — object to processing of your data, including for direct marketing.
• Right to Withdraw Consent — withdraw cookie consent at any time by clearing your browser's localStorage for our domain.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us. We will respond within 30 days as required by GDPR. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

Our legal basis for processing data: consent (for analytics and advertising cookies, obtained through our cookie banner) and legitimate interest (for essential site functionality and security).

7. Your Rights Under CCPA/CPRA (California Residents)

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

• Right to Know — request disclosure of categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you in the past 12 months.
• Right to Delete — request deletion of personal information we have collected from you.
• Right to Correct — correct inaccurate personal information.
• Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing — we do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising without your consent. Our cookie banner provides granular opt-in control before any advertising cookies are set.
• Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information — we do not collect sensitive personal information as defined by CPRA.
• Right to Non-Discrimination — we will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA/CPRA rights.

To exercise your CCPA rights, contact us. We will verify your identity before processing your request. You may also designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf.

7.1 Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

We do not sell personal information as defined under CCPA. We also do not "share" personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising without your prior opt-in consent through our cookie banner. If you have already accepted advertising cookies and wish to revoke that consent, clear your browser's localStorage for our domain (lockyourbiz.com) and the cookie consent banner will reappear, allowing you to change your preferences.

8. Data Retention

We retain data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:

• Contact form submissions: Retained for 12 months after your inquiry is resolved, then deleted.
• Analytics data: Google Analytics data is automatically deleted after 26 months per our GA4 settings.
• Cookie consent preferences: Stored in your browser's localStorage for 12 months.
• Server logs: Retained for 30 days (standard Cloudflare hosting practice).

9. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information:

• HTTPS everywhere — all traffic to and from our site is encrypted via TLS.
• Client-side tools — our interactive tools process data in your browser; no sensitive input is transmitted to our servers.
• Minimal data collection — we collect only what is necessary and nothing more.
• Secure hosting — our site is hosted on Cloudflare Pages with enterprise-grade infrastructure security.

No method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we take reasonable precautions to minimize risk.

10. Third-Party Links

Our articles and tools link to external websites, tools, and resources that we believe are useful. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of these third parties. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external sites you visit.

11. Children's Privacy

Our website is directed at adult small business owners and is not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

12. International Data Transfers

Our website is hosted in the United States by Cloudflare. If you access our site from outside the US, your data may be transferred to and processed in the US. We rely on standard contractual clauses and adequacy decisions where applicable to ensure lawful data transfers. By using our site, you consent to this transfer.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or the services we use. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Material changes will be noted more prominently.

14. Contact

If you have questions, concerns, or wish to exercise your data rights:

• Use our contact form
• Email us at the address listed on our contact page

We aim to respond to all privacy-related inquiries within 48 hours.